Index for letter or account books



(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 1. W. D. BEVIN. INDEX FOR LETTER 0R ACCOUNT BOOKS.

Patented Deo. 1, 1891.

WIT/VESSES:

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' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM D. BEVIN, OF SYRAOUSE, NEV YORK.

- INDEX FOR LETTER' O-R ACCOUNT BOOKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 464,417, dated December 1, 1891.

Application filed July 30,1891. Serial No. 401,112. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM D. BEvIN, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Indexes for Let-ter or Account Books, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention. relates to an improved index especially adapted for use in connection with letter books, ledgers, or other books constantly requiring indexing; and the object of the invention is to provide a sliding index,

' an index which will be attached to a book,

Virtually forming a portion thereof, and capable of being slid out therefrom or slid to place between the leaves of a book and its back without opening the book or interfering with the lay of the leaves when the book is opened. l

Th'e invention consists in the novel construction and. combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth,V

and pointed out in the claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure l is a perspective view ofthe book open and the index slid out therefrom in a4 position for use. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the book andindex, the index being in the position shown in Fig. 1 and the leaves of the book being illustrated in the position to disclose the back board to which the index is attached. Fig. 3 is an edge view of thebook A but one board (the back board, preferably) is narrower than the front board, whereby the flexible strip between the inner edge of the back board and the rear leaf is much wider, as shown at a in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, than between the frontleaf and the inner edge of the front board. The rear leaf 12a of the book is preferably made of a stonter material than the other leaves, and at its outer side edge is stiffened by an attached strip of leather 12b, canvas, or like material, so that the re-enforcement of' the back leaf l2a enables the person manipulating the book to raise all of the leaveswhen resting upon the back leaf.

The index A, when notin use, is adapted to lie upon the back board, between it and the back leaf 12a, as shown in Fig. 4. The index is usually made of a size and shape nearly corresponding to the size and shape of the back board of the book, and the index is also ordinarily provided with a front cover A', attached to its upper edge, wherebyit is opened upward and outward, as shown in Figs. l and The index is secured to the back board of4 the book by means of a flexible strip 13, made from fabric, leather, rubber, or rubber cloth. The strip is secured in any suitable or approved inanner to the under cover of the index, being securely attached to said cover froina point near the center to the inner edge thereof, as illustrated at 13L in Figs. 4 and 5. Ordinarily the fiexible strip 13 is pasted to the back of the index and extends from the top to the bottom thereof. The opposite end of the exible strip is secured to the inner face of the back board at or near the center thereof, as illustrated at 14 in the said Figs. 4 and 5. The preferred form of attaching the strip to the back board is by dividing the sheet employed as a facing to the inner face of the back board and pasting the fabric directly upon the back board or casing thereof and covering the pasted section'of the strip by one section of the facing-sheet. The width of the exible strip is so calculated that when the index is slid toits normalposition within the book the inner edge of the inner edge of the back board. The index is also provided with an attached tab v15, the said tab being usually secured to the back of the index at the center thereof.

index will be Hush, or practically so, with the roo In operation, if the book is closed, the index may be slid outward by grasping the tab 15 and drawing upon it, and when drawn outward to its full extent theinneredge of theindex will practically rest upon the outer edge surface of the back board. This action is accomplished without necessarily opening the book or Without 'disturbing any of its leaves, and when the book is opened for indexing purposes the index is slid out in like manner as above set forth, and when the front cover of the index is opened, the index then adjoining the side edge of the, book, the leaves of the book may be turned with the left hand as the party indexing enters the name and number of the page in the index with the right hand. When through indexing it is simply necessary to raise the back sheet l2, which is readily accomplished by grasping its re-enforcing edge, as said edge extends beyond all the leaves of the book, and when the back leaf is thus engaged it is elevated slightly and the index is slid back as faras it will go, at which time it will be completely concealed between the back leaf and the back board.

Nothing interrupts the inward-sliding movetachment to the book, and that it is capable of convenient and expeditious manipulation,

and with ordinary care will not become separat-ed from the book.

By reason of the flexible strip of the back being made longer at one side of the attached leaves than at the other, ample room is provided for the index when the book is closed, and the back of the book has the same appearance as though the additional leaves of the index were not contained therein and Were not attached to the back flexible strip of its cover.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The combination, with a book the binding of which comprises two boards united by a flexible strip and leaves attached to said stri p, the space between one board and the leaves being greater than the space between the opposite board and the leaves, and an outer leaf re-enforced at its outer edge, of an index, and a flexible strip, as of fabric, rubber, or rubber cloth, secured to the back of the index and to theinnerface ofthe back board ofthe book, substantially as shown and described, the board to which the index is attached being adjacent to the re-enforced leaf, as and for the purpose set forth.

W'ILLIAM D. BEVIN.

Witnesses:

L. F. OORWIN, ANNA L. FARRELL. 

